Golf training apparatus



1969 KIYOSHI NISHIKAWA 3,473,810

GOLF TRAINING APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1969 KIYOSHI NISHIKAWA 3, 73,810

GOLF TRAINING APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.6

GOLF TRAINING APPARATUS Kiyoshi Nishikawa, 2-6 19 Nakane, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan Claims priority, application Japan, May 7, 1966, 41/28,616; Aug. 29, 1966, 41/56,428 Filed Apr. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 629,702 Int. Cl. A63b 69/36 US. 0. 273192 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for guiding the movement of a putter while executing a putting stroke including a slide slidable in a straight horizontal direction along a guide rail fixed on a base, a rotary arm pivotally mounted on said slide for free rotation in a vertical plane parallel to the guide rail and a club supporting member pivotally connected at one end thereof to the free end of the rotary arm so as to be rotatable relative to the arm in a vertical plane parallel to the guide rail. A putter is pivotally fixed at its shaft portion to the free end of the club supporting member so that the ball striking face of the putter is held at a right angle to the sliding movement of the slide and the putter may be moved in a plane perpendicular to the guide rail.

The present invention relates to a golf training apparatus.

nited States Patent Putting is important in the game of golf and skill in putting is a key to good scores. For putting it is essential to move the putter on a straight line toward an objective point, i.e. a hole, maintaining the face of the putter in the correct direction, but it is difiicult for a golfer to learn the correct movement of the putter with practice on a green.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a golf training apparatus for learning an exact and smooth stroke of a putter on the ground, floor or the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a golf training apparatus of the above kind which is simple in construction and can be easily manufactured with low cost.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf training apparatus comprising a base adapted to be put on the ground, floor or the like, a guide rail on the base, a slide slidable along the guide rail in a straight horizontal direction, a rotary arm pivotally mounted on said slide for freely rotating in a plane parallel to the guide rail, and a club supporting member for fixedly supporting the shaft of a putter and being pivotally connected to the free end of said rotary arm.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf training apparatus comprising a base adapted to be put on the ground, floor or the like, a horizontal guide rail having polygonal shape in section fixed on said base, a slide slidable along said 'horizontal guide rail by means of rolling bearings which roll on the side surfaces of said guide rail, a rotary arm pivotally mounted on said slide for freely rotating in a plane parallel to the guide rail, and a club supporting member for fixedly supporting a shaft of a golf club and being pivotally connected to the free end of said rotary arm.

The present invention will be fully understood from the following descrinptions with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of examples, two embodiments of the present invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, partly broken away to show the inside thereof;

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FIG. 2 is a side view of the same;

FIG. 3 is an end view seen in the direction of line IIIIII in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the same; and

FIG. 6 is an end view seen in the direction of line VI-VI in FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention. The golf training apparatus shown comprises a base 10, a slide 12, a rotary arm 14 pivotally mounted at its one end on said slide, an L-shaped connecting member 16 pivotally connected to the free end of said rotary arm and a club supporting member 18. The base 10 has a guide rail 20, formed by a channel member opening at one side, and two pairs of grooved rolls 22 rotatably mounted on said slide 12 engage with fianges 24 formed at the opening side of said guide rail 20. Thus the slide 12 can smoothly slide along said guide rail 20 in a straight horizontal direction. The rotary arm 14 is pivotally mounted on the slide 12, through a stub shaft 26 projecting horizontally from the slide 12, and can freely rotate in a vertical plane parallel to the slide. The L-shaped connecting member 16 is pivotally connected at one end to the free end of said rotary arm 14 and the club supporting member 18 is connected to the other end of said L-shaped connecting member 16 for freely rotating in a plane at a right angle to said slide. The club supporting member 18 has a clamp 30 hinged thereto at 28, and fixedly supports the shaft of a putter as shown by dot-and-dash line 32 in FIG. 3, by fastening the clamp 30 by a screw 34.

When the member 18 is moved in the direction parallel to the guide rail 20 the slide 12 smoothly slides along the guide rail, and as the height of the member 18 above the base varies, the rotary arm 14 rotates about the shaft 26 on the slide 12, so that th club connecting member 18 can freely move in a plane parallel to the guide rail 20 but cannot move in the direction at a right angle to said plane. Consequently, when a trainee fixes the shaft of a putter to the club supporting member 18 in such a position that the face of the putter is at a right angle to the guide rail 20, he can freely swing the putter in the vertical plane parallel to the guide rail which is correctly directed toward an objective point but he cannot swing the club out of said vertical plane. Since the club supporting member 18 can rotate in a plane at a right angle to said vertical plane, the trainee can hold the shaft of the club at the desired angle to the base.

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate another embodiment of the inven tion. The apparatus shown in FIGS. 4-6 comprises a base 36 adapted to be put on the ground, floor or the like, a guide rail 38 having polygonal shape in section and horizontally fixed on said base, and a slide 40 slidable along said guide rail and having a plurality of rolling bearings 42 (six bearings in the drawings) mounted thereon. The slide 40 has a through-hole in its center for passing the guide rail 38 therethrough, and the rolling bearings 42 mounted on the slide surround the guide rail 38, with each bearing engaging and rolling on a side surface of said guide rail. In the drawings, two bearings 42 beneath the slide 40 are mounted on the slide by means of eccentrics so that the gap between the bearing and the guide rail can be adjusted by rotating said eccentric. A rotary arm 44 is pivotally mounted on the slide 40 at 46 so that it can freely rotate in a plane parallel to the sliding movement of said slide, said arm having at its free end a Connecting member 48 ,pivotally connected thereto at 50, and a club supporting member 52 is pivotally connected to the end of said connecting member at 54 so that it can freely rotate in a plane at a right angle to the sliding movement of said slide 40. The club supporting member 52 has a clamp 58 tightly fastened thereto by mean of screws 56 for fixedly supporting a shaft of a golf club as shown by dot-and-dash line 60 in FIG. 6.

The golf training apparatus as described above is put on the ground, floor or the like in such a position that the guide rail 38 is in parallel with balls path toward an objective point and a putter is fixed on the club supporting member by the clamp 58 and the screws 56 in such a position that the face of the putter is at a right angle to the guide rail. When a trainee grips and swings the golf club 60 in parallel with the guide rail 38, the slide 40 moves very smoothly along the guide rail 38 as the rolling bearings mounted on the slide roll on the side surfaces of said polygonal guide rail, while the rotary arm 44' rotates about the pivot 46 as the height of the golf club above the base varies, so that the golf club freely moves in a vertical plane parallel to the guide rail and the face of the golf club makes a translational movement, holding the position at a right angle to the guide rail. Thus, when practicing the putting stroke by using the above training apparatus, the trainee can swing the golf club freely in the vertical plane on the line directed toward the objective point but he cannot swing the golf club out of said vertical plane, that is, the movement of the golf club is limited to the swinging movement in the correct direction toward the objective point while the face of the golf club is held in the correct direction facing said objective point. The club supporting member is rotatable about the pivot 54 so that the trainee can hold the shaft of the golf club at any desired angle to the base, Although the guide rail is shown as having a hexagonal shape in section, it may have any other polygonal shape, for example tetragonal, triangular, or T-shaped form in section.

It will be understood from the above description that when the golf training apparatus is used the putter makes a correct movement toward an objective point maintaining correct direction of the club face, without making any transverse movement, so that one can easily master the correct movement of the putter by repeating the swing by this apparatus. Furthermore, when the slide moves along the guide rail by means of the bearings which roll on the side surfaces of the guide rail of polygonal shape in section, the movement of the slide is very smooth so that the trainee can move the putter in the correct direction without appreciable resistance to themovement thereof.

Although the present invention has been described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments, it will be understood that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in th art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A golf training apparatus. comprising a base, a straight substantially horizontal guide rail fixed on the base, a slide slidable along the guide rail in a straight, substantially horizontal direction, an arm extending perpendicularly from said slide and having one end thereof connected thereto, an elongated connecting member extending substantially parallel to said guide rail and having one end thereof connected to the other end of said am, means for permitting said connecting member to rotate about the axis of said arm only in a vertical plane spaced from and parallel to a vertical plane containing the longitudinal axis of said guide rail, and a club supporting member having one end thereof pivotally connected to the other end of said connecting member so as to be rotatable relative to said connecting member only in a vertical plane parallel to said vertical plane containing said guide rail, means at the other end of said supporting member for fixedly securing a putter thereto and restricting movement of said putter to a vertical plane perpendicular to the horizontal guide rail.

2. A golf training apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guide rail has a polygonal cross section and said slide slidable along said guide rail includes rolling bearings engaging with the surfaces of said guide rail, at least one of said rolling bearings being adjustable with respect to said guide rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,084,901 6/1937 Eisenberg 273-l92 2,894,755 7/1959 Scelzo .s 273l92 FOREIGN PATENTS 175,197 2/ 1922 Great Britain.

GEORGE J. MARLO, Primary Examiner 

